SCRIPT (W)RAP – TRANSFORMERS RG1 #87

Slightly later than usual, but just in under the wire before its Jan 9th release (though it seems Comixology managed to pre-release the issue last Wednesday!), is my Script (W)rap for Transformers: Regeneration One #87, the second part of the second arc, ‘Natural Selection’. And as usual, I’ll be teasing the contents of the issue (and some of the creative thoughts behind it) so if you’d rather go in with no preconceptions whatsoever, stop reading now. Okay, on with #87. For a start, we’ve a few re-introductions. The issue kicks off with three Autobot Headmasters, back from the dead (after a fashion). But thanks to Scorponok’s personality modifications they’re a little different to how we remember them. As he puts it himself, a little more “motivationally inclined to the mayhem I have in mind.” This whole arc looks deeply at the fundamental nature of Primus’s creations, and kind of poses the question: who came first? Autobot or Decepticon. Which one is the deviation? The aberration? And just what role does Grimlock play in Scorponok’s unfolding plan? It’s going to make him question his fundamental nature and motivations too. The arc also plays into the bigger picture too — as enforcing even anarchic order on the Cybertronian race will pull another big pin out of the whole teetering structure. And while things snowball rapidly out of control on Cybertron, there’s other big stuff unfolding too. Discoveries under the surface of Cybertron, that will draw Hot Rod closer to a destiny he never dreamed of. We have the (full) return of Galvatron… and one other!! And a potentially fateful decision by Optimus Prime. Those who adore the advancement of multiple plotlines in any one issue should welcome this one. It twists and turns like… a twisty, turny thing.

simon are you sure you are not gonna make a rg1 prequel story as we have many questions to be answered this is not a critcism or complaint but we need to know how megatron defeated the arks defences and hardwired his old freind to the ark anyway i cant wait to see what galvatron does with megatrons old freind also with only prime on earth i can see his head being removed again and used as a christmas decoration in the ark the list of questions we have are endless so thats all for now

This should be good. Couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Scorponok say it’s time to go to Cybertron, and then two pages later he’s on Cyberton. I figured it would be 89 before he started his ruckus on the home planet.

thank me for that jab later, Simon.🙂

Still the best part of all this will be the return of SHOCKWAVE. Add to that a possible Galvatron, Starscream, Shockwave team up.

I hate being the bad guy here, but this issue was just more set up. Yes we got a lot of storyline progression, which turned into more set up. I again feel more could have happened, and that we would already have been into the meat of this thing. Instead it looks like the big stuff will happen in the 3rd issue of this five issue arc. Which makes me worry that we’ll end up with another quick wrap up by 90, and this will be another arc that felt like it got moving to slowly and before you know it was done. I hope I’m wrong and this arc will feel better paced, but right now I wonder if Hot Rod will even find Primus before 90. And I’m already assuming this arc is going to set up the Thunderwing arc. So it’s not hard to see where that part of the story is going.

If fact I feel like I already know what your doing. Prime will face Galvatron, Starscream, and Shockwave on Earth. Die in the process or Ultra Magnus and the Wreckers will come back and save him before he does. This is where we’ll get our Magnus vs. Galvatron fight. I guess it’s more fitting for Prime to die saving the humans. I don’t see how the big 3 will get off Earth without a shuttle so the great bad guys won’t even get off Earth, unless they kill everyone and take the shuttle if the wreckers return. So I wonder if they will even matter by the last arc. I’m assuming the next arc will most definitely be the Thunderwing arc. With Thunderwing causing issues, and Hot Rod trying to stop him. Perhaps with Primus or Primus engery making Hot Rod, Rodimus Prime. At which point Thunderwing take dirt nap, maybe. Then we go into our last arc which will deal with Jhiaxus and the 13 original Cybertronians. Where lots of friends and foes will die, and we’ll either get a happy or bittersweet ending to this whole thing.

Sorry Simon that I have nothing nice to say this time. If things turn out find for the rest of the arc, then my complaints about this issue won’t mean anything. Unfortunatly this issue gave me major jitters about what’s the come.

oh dear, ok so first of all this is just my opinion and im not here to start an argument so ill say my bit then we will leave it at that . there seems to be a lack of respect ,you seem to constantly bash simon as if you were his teacher or editor, yes you are entitled to your opinion but you need to know where to draw the line just be gratefull that we have rg1 if i was simon and kept on recieving these harsh attacks on my work i would probably not want to continue to have an open blog, sean put yourself in simons shoes how would you feel if your hard work was put down by an armchair or bedroom critic, ok well i could continue but i will leave it at that and as i said at the beggining i havent done this for a comment war if you feel u need to argue about this i will post my email address for you to send your comments to as this is not the place for arguing. so sean if you happen to be simons editor or his teacher from school then i will take my words back and eat them

Calling it bashing if you want, but I just pointing about my disappointments with his work. I can’t do that? I’m supposed to instead say it’s his best work ever, when I don’t personnally think it is? You think I’m the only one making these complaints? Simon’s a big boy, he’s been doing this for many years. I’d hope by now he can take criticism and if doesn’t like what that criticism is he can defend against it. The way you talk nobody should take criticism for the things they do. I’d personnally want someone to tell me what they disliked about my work. Oh, and yes I would love your e-mail address. Please do post it.🙂

Prime will face Galvatron, Starscream, and Shockwave on Earth. Die in the process or Ultra Magnus and the Wreckers will come back and save him before he does. WRONG.
This is where we’ll get our Magnus vs. Galvatron fight. WRONG.
I guess it’s more fitting for Prime to die saving the humans. I don’t see how the big 3 will get off Earth without a shuttle so the great bad guys won’t even get off Earth, unless they kill everyone and take the shuttle if the wreckers return. WRONG.
So I wonder if they will even matter by the last arc. I’m assuming the next arc will most definitely be the Thunderwing arc. With Thunderwing causing issues, and Hot Rod trying to stop him. WRONG.
Perhaps with Primus or Primus engery making Hot Rod, Rodimus Prime. At which point Thunderwing take dirt nap, maybe. WRONG.
Then we go into our last arc which will deal with Jhiaxus and the 13 original Cybertronians. Where lots of friends and foes will die, and we’ll either get a happy or bittersweet ending to this whole thing. WRONG. OR AT LEAST MOSTLY WRONG.

Sean, I’m pleased you’re projecting ahead, it means I’ve intrigued you, but to criticise based on guesswork is a nonsense. Sorry to be the bad guy here, but please — WAIT AND SEE!

I really loved this issue – if you’ll excuse the phrase, Simon has his balls in the air and he’s juggling them expertly. The pacing is just right and there’s plenty going on to keep me interested. Can’t wait for the next issue!

“Couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Scorponok say it’s time to go to Cybertron, and then two pages later he’s on Cyberton. I figured it would be 89 before he started his ruckus on the home planet.”

I’m thinking that the stuff that happened on Nebulos actually happened in the past compared to other events in the comics, given the amount of time it takes to travel from one planet to another. It gets annoying when writers don’t think about how long it takes to travel from one place to another, especially across space. But its acceptable here. Grimlock only arriving on Cybertron two pages after he left Nebulos would have been done for narration purposes and not an indication of how much time had passed.

I have to say, seeing those three headmaster Autobots turn into sociopathic killers was the most sobering thing I’ve yet come across in this run, especially when I thought back to how they went out during the Unicron fight. I wonder if their old personalities will ever resurface. And I’m still waiting to see Grimlock put his crown back on. (ducks the onslaught of veggies)

The only real negative aspect of this issue for me was the generic Autobots that were killed. Why introduce generics at this point? Its more fun to see recognisable characters in the comics than generics that don’t mean anything to anyone. Slapdash’s death was a much more emotional scene because he was a known character. In comparison, the death of generics doesn’t get an emotional response from me other than how pointless they are.

G2 characters were killed off a few issues ago so its not as if there are a shortage of known characters.

Some people say they don’t like seeing the toys they own being killed off in the comics. I on the other hand want to see toys used that don’t normally get seen in the comics. Even if they do get killed off.

Intriguing as ever, but very uncomfortable to see the Autobots Headmasters on a killing spree; also, why only three of them? Is Chromedome waiting in the wings as a failed experiment (or worse, one that was too successful)? As an aside, I realise it may very well be artistic licence on Andy’s part, but why does Hardhead now have a faceplate like his toy counterpart, and why is Brainstorm lacking one (even though it was in place mere issues ago)?
Do the Autobots never learn about being thorough with clearing up after themselves?! The Ark is still there, with three of the most dangerous ‘Cons within. Not that I’m complaining, of course, but I am wondering if Starscream and Shockwave are the entire representatives left of the original cast of ‘Cons from 1984/5. Did Soundwave manage to escape the explosion?
I realise that Grimlock’s going along with Scorponok’s plan to restore the Dinobots and others as a kind of skewed self-redemption, but it’s another uncomfortable thing to read. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s refreshing to be taken out of our comfort zone once in a while, but I can’t help hoping that the Autobots being changed at morality’s level isn’t a permanent one, though it’ll be fun to see some of our best loved characters in a different light (one thing that always seemed to crop up with the Decepticons was power play; leadership challenges and different factions left, right and centre. I wonder if we’ll see anything like that within the altered Autobot ranks).
Prime’s lament about feeling that he should never have been resurrected, and that it led to these events… is this some kind of Optimus-sized foreshadowing, I wonder? Also, everything seems to point towards a certain something that everyone’s expecting happening to Hot Rod. I can’t help thinking that this may be misdirection. Only you have the answers, and I love not knowing yet.
One question, are Siren, Hosehead and Nightbeat (or were they ever) Headmasters in this continuity? I know their Decepticon counterparts were, and that they were in the UK continuity, but that’s obviously null and void here.
Keep up the great work as ever; it’s going to be a long wait until the next issue.

Thanks Simon & the team for another great issue. I think this could be one of my favourites are there is so much happening.

I do have one question & its very obvious I can’t believe no one else has asked it.

How come Hardhead & Brainstorm seemed to have swapped heads? Hardhead now has a faceplate and no mouth while Brainstorm has now gained a mouth?

Its good to see Rod Hot start to take responsiblity of the Autobots. I still think that Grimlock is only doing this until he has his Dinobots and then will get revenge on Scorponok! Surely he can’t have crossed over to the dark side.

One of my favourite things about the Transformers comics – specifically Furman’s run in the UK comics – was the huge level of character found in pretty much ever member of the cast, even peripheral ones. Due to the nature of the story of RG1 so far, it’s been lacking that character. Having the Decepticons as zombies in the first arc was disappointing, and now having the Autobot Headmasters turned on their heads (no inhibitions, like the not-Zombies in Avatar’s Crossed comic?!?) is a real shame, as the personalities have been stripped from these characters just as sure as if Starscream was denied a voice.
However, I’m still a big fan of the run and will be with it unto the bitter end (it never ends!😉 ), seeing a reference to issue #60 was great and makes me encouraged to see this old plot point picked up, I just hope it is followed through to a satisfying resolution and not glossed over like Springer’s un-heroic death.

#90: TOO LITTLE-TOO LATE! As Scorponok’s Dark Reign comes ever closer to spreading right across Cybertron, Grimlock launches a desperate counterstrike, in the face of almost innumerable odds. Does the Dinobot commander really have one last ace up his sleeve, or does his “plan” amount to a glorious-but doomed-last stand?

Back in the original Marvel days, the comic never stood still in one place for too long. It kept jumping to various different locations featuring a wide variety of characters, each issue telling a completely different story to the last. In the space of any five issues, the original comic became completely different over the course of those five issues. Its disheartening not to be getting that with Regeneration One.

People may have complained about the original comics being used “to sell toys” which meant a forced change of cast and situations every few issues but thats one of the things I loved about the original comics.

I don’t think that was entirely the case. Though chapters were sometimes more self-contained, looking at the latter-half of Marvel G1: #47-50 were the Underbase Saga. #56-59 were the return of Megatron. Those four issues ran one continuous story. It was *five* issues but four is close enough. #62-66 were The Matrix Quest. #71-75 ran continuously from with the first three issues of those parts all being primarily in New Jersey. #76-80 were the aftermath and Simon Furman as said that was going to six issues (in what would’ve been #79-84) had to be condenced into two, so the entire first arc of the aftermath would’ve spanned #76-84, before it would’ve moved into post-Klo territory.

and when you look at the britsh run in no particular order target 2006, the enemy within, dinobot hunt, return to cybertron , i could carry on but most of the issues american or british had storys that were usually 4-5 parts before any more complaints of this matter when transformers 1st started it was a 4 issue story the next part was around 4-5 issues and hey this happens in all comics from marvel dc and 2000ad thats how stories work they have parts or chapters i guess you didnt pay attention in english lessons in school when teachers would breakdown what a book,chapter and parts are we would all love stories to have 10 parts or more but hey if you like having to read 30 parts to complete a story marvel annnually have an event that normally spans 50 issues

I know that you can’t use Circuit Breaker, but can we at least find out what happened to her? Can you maybe refer to her as Josie or something like that? She was one of the central reasons that the Transformers were able to defeat Unicron. Unfortunately, an issue or two later she just vanished. And before everyone jumps on me about asking this, yes I am aware that she was (kind of ) seen in an earlier issue of regeneration one batteling beside Fortress Maximus and that we should then come to the conclusion that she died in the battle, but what happened to her after the Unicron battle? She was such a great charcter. I wish she could have been used in Spikes place. No offence to Spike. Actually, I have a feeling that Spike is going to be the one who will off Optimus Prime… which sucks. I hope I am wrong.